System Alert: Upgrade to Humility 3.0

What comes to mind when I ask you to think about humility? Is it a religious figurehead? Maybe a philanthropist? What about a billionaire who rides the subway in a T-shirt? Or perhaps a mastermind, crack, or virtuoso who operates under the radar? Whatever image you have of this value, it has been strongly shaped by how civilizations have thought about it over time. The definition and objective of humility have evolved greatly, often responding to changing priorities in a dynamic continuum. Let's take a look at how humility was addressed in the past, how we think about it now, and what role it will play in the future to understand where we come from and where we're going. This is not a scientific classification, but rather a simple way in which I think of the topic.

The first major phase of humility can be traced back to Greek mythology some 3,000 years before the common era (BCE). Aidos was revered as the goddess of humility during the time, teaching mortals the value of rejecting egotism, self-centeredness, arrogance, and excessive pride, especially when acknowledging one's self in comparison to a deity. Several religions have adopted this humble view of one's value in relation to a higher power. Unfortunately, this has often gotten out of hand with people misinterpreting the virtue of humility as unworthiness, inadequacy, and pettiness. It's no surprise that humiliation, which derives from the Latin word humiliare, meaning "to humble," became a strategy for re-aligning someone who was thought to have an overwhelming sense of self-worth.

The approach to humility entered a second age several centuries later with philosophical studies focusing on how we relate to our own attributes and beliefs, which attitudes facilitate the exercise of this virtue, and what features are salient to a moral person. In other words, humility ceased to be a means of appeasing a supreme entity and instead became a value for fostering better connections with other humans. This is exactly where we are now, and if you don't believe me, just look at the amount of research out there about the importance of humility in effective leadership. The findings suggest that humble leaders are better at listening, championing the finest ideas, and encouraging exceptional teamwork. They also show that humility is linked to a group of extremely beneficial characteristics that promote stronger interpersonal connections, such as sincerity, fairness, truthfulness, unpretentiousness, and genuineness.

What about the future, though? Is humility destined to be relegated to a nice-to-have trait, or are we experiencing the dawn of a third period in which humility 3.0 is critical to our survival? The latter, I believe, is the case. But, before we get into the meat of the matter, let's look at a more recent and comprehensive description of this concept. 

In “True Humility”, Gavin Seah notes that false humility entails people focusing too much on their flaws and not enough on their virtues. It’s a practice that combines a lack of internal self-confidence and the need to externalize the bad self-perception, i.e., being outspoken about all of our flaws. True humility, on the other hand, is a balanced view of one's skills, talents, and abilities, as well as one's deficiencies, low aptitudes in a particular fields, and disadvantageous family background. True humility is a blend of a rational internal appraisal of one's own virtues and defects, as well as an outward manifestation of these beliefs. Moreover, true humility is outward-centric in character, with the attention being on something other than oneself. As a result, a person will recognize that his or her accomplishments are collaborative rather than self-driven.

Having established how to think of humility, let’s now talk about why humility is so crucial for the future of our species. In "Humility Is The New Smart", Edward Hess and Katherine Ludwig argue that smart technologies are becoming pervasive, influencing and affecting many parts of our professional and personal life. They are not only better at gathering, retaining, and using knowledge than humans, but they are also becoming more independent, handling non-routine cognitive tasks formerly supposed to be reserved to us. In the future, it will be impossible to know more content than a smart machine. The consensus believes that critical reasoning, original thinking, creativity, and the kind of high emotional engagement with people that supports relationship building and collaboration are among the abilities that will be required of us.

Our ego and fears, according to Hess and Ludwig, are the two major obstacles to quality thinking and emotional engagement with others. Mitigating them requires a shift in mindset in which we become hyper learners by embracing humility. This has five implications: 1) having an accurate (not exaggerated or undervalued) view of our abilities and accomplishments, 2) being able to admit our mistakes, imperfections, knowledge gaps, and limitations, 3) being open to new ideas, contradictory information, and advice, 4) keeping our abilities and accomplishments in perspective, and 5) appreciating the worth of others. To summarize, humility puts us in a position where we can learn and renew ourselves.

" Darwin was wrong about the basic dynamics of evolution," writes Daniel Reid in his foreword to "The Science and Practice of Humility." He believes that the adaptive evolution of larger fangs, sharper claws, and faster feet has not moved humanity forward as far as we imagine. The evolution of consciousness, on the other hand, has. Over the course of 3.5 million years, the Stone Age developed. The subsequent Bronze Age zipped by in only 2,500 years, followed by the Iron Age in just 500 years and the Industrial Age in less than a century. Human consciousness has already evolved more in the current Age of Information than it has in all preceding epochs combined, and the rate continues to accelerate. Humility appears to be the key to catching this quickly rising wave of evolving consciousness.

So, let me ask you again. When you think of someone humble, who comes to mind? I hope you now see yourself, someone comfortable enough to recognize his or her limitations but engaged in life-long learning to evolve and stay ahead of times. I especially wish you also see yourself outspoken about all the wonderful qualities that make you who you are.

Author: Esteban Polidura, CFA. November 27, 2021.